War  Memorial    .... there are lots of tunnels underneath

Sand-blasting the graffiti . 

 Now ... how to get rid of the brown marks caused by the blasting

Lenin always looks as if he's pointing the way to the sale at Bloomingdale's.

( either that ... or pointing at a UFO )

Summer home of Tsar  Nicholas   .....  and  site of the Yalta Conference

One of the biggest battles of the Crimean  War ... was fought  right here .

This  rotunda  houses a fantastic panorama  painting of the  Crimean Battle.  

The only one we've seen one as good this ... is the one at the war memorial in  Volgagrad  ( depicting the battle of Stalingrad )

This is the  Entrance /  Exit  shown on the lower  portion  of the map.

And this is the Entrance / Exit  shown on the upper  portion  of the map.

This  HUGE  GUN  sits at the upper entrance ..... right in front of the  "port-a-potty". 

 Guess  that  says  something  about  the  state  of  the  supply & demand  of  that  little  amenity.

Tracks & Walking  Passages  in the tunnel area.

Sub-Marine  Channel

This was  our  3rd  visit  to  Odessa.              The last time we were here was on  9-11.             The dock area buildings were under construction at that time.

At the famous  Potemkin  Steps

That's the  Opera  House  in the background.

Gagarin's  Palace  .... we attended a fantastic  concert  here

This 11 year old child  was  ASTOUNDING.

I've played some of the pieces she played.

 Not only are they extremely difficult &  physically demanding ... but I didn't play them until I was in college.

Our ship sailed to the mouth of the delta  ... where we all transferred to this little river boat  .... for an all day excursion on the Danube.     Had a lovely lunch on board too.

Saw some  great scenery   .... and a very varied collection of different houses and farms

The  WILD-LIFE  was pretty interesting  too !!

Okay ... Okay  !!

Sooooo .......

I got

 a bit diverted

on the way to being  "Culturally  Enlightened "

P.S.  

Got the

McLenin  T-shirt

in Odessa

Assumption  Cathedral

Roman  Baths